Some people of my age are nostalgic about the world we grew up in the pre-digital age. They claim that things were simpler without all this technology that surrounds us and that being connected to the world 24/7 has robbed us of our freedom. Some think that old technologies like film, tape and vinyl were better, possessing as they do a certain “je ne sais quoi”. They may have a point. I for one though am happy to sacrifice a little fairy dust for the huge benefits the digital age offers. Outside of artistic areas like music, photography and film the practical advantages of digital are impossible to argue sensibly.
I remember for example several times in my pre digital age youth when one of the old clunkers I drove broke down in the middle of nowhere. I’d have to walk miles to find a phone box that wasn’t vandalised to call for help. Recently the water pump in my BMW gave up. I pulled out my phone, jumped online to join the AA and was towed to a local garage. Another time when my seatbelt jammed my car door a quick Internet search found a tutorial that showed me how to fix the problem (push don’t pull)
Missing The Pre Digital Age?
Like most people my age, the smartphone is a fairly recent development and one I resisted until it became a necessity for work. Now I can’t imagine not having one. I’ve used it to guide me around the UK France, Spain, Germany, Italy and Cyprus on foot and by car. I often use its camera instead of lugging my heavy pro camera kit on holiday and for business videos. It’s an entertainment centre, payment processor, store card library, guitar tuner, compass, calculator, book reader and boarding pass. Oh yeah – it’s also a phone! But seriously, what’s not to like?
I could enthuse endlessly about the benefits the digital age has brought to the world of music, photography, medicine, design, safety, manufacturing and countless other fields. Instead let’s have a look at what the digital revolution has made possible in terms of earning our daily bread.
In that old world that some still see through rose tinted goggles, the vast majority of us had no option but to work for someone else. Even if we started with big dreams: Rockstar, sports hero, bestselling author, movie star, tycoon, those dreams were gradually crushed and we settled for something far more mundane. The fact is very few of us have the single-mindedness, funds or innate talent to become those things. Instead we focus on the necessities of life like keeping a roof over our heads and food on the table.
That Old 9-5 Thing….
The simplest solution is to train for and get as good a job as we can, basically exchanging our time for money. That has been the status quo for hundreds of years but again the digital age is changing all that. For starters, many industries, professions and the jobs they create are disappearing. Automation, computerisation and artificial intelligence are disrupting the comfy status quo. At the same time though, as revolutions always do it’s creating new, never before seen opportunities for all of us.
The growth of the internet and the emergence of mobile technology has allowed many employees to work, at least some of the time from home. Nice though that is, its only a small part of what’s possible. With most of us now shopping online from the comfort of our own homes on a 24/7/365 basis the internet has become an incredible place to do business. We can be the seller as well as the buyer.
The advantages and lifestyle benefits of creating an Internet business in the digital age are huge. The Start up costs are low and the equipment you need is minimal (a laptop) Internet business models like affiliate marketing and e-commerce mean that we don’t even need our own products to get started. Better still, an online business can be run from anywhere, largely automated and scaled far more easily than a traditional business.
Education For The Digital Age
Really all it takes to transition to this new world fully is a spot of re-skilling. The skills themselves are not that difficult with the right education platform (below) What’s more difficult for many is the
mindset change required after years, decades maybe of 9-5 conditioning. How can it be possible they wonder, to replace or vastly supercede a regular 9-5 income without: Commuting; A boss; working 40 + hours per week, a specific workplace? How can a business be started without buying products, have a global customer base and be semis automated?
mindset change required after years, decades maybe of 9-5 conditioning. How can it be possible they wonder, to replace or vastly supercede a regular 9-5 income without: Commuting; A boss; working 40 + hours per week, a specific workplace? How can a business be started without buying products, have a global customer base and be semis automated?
The answers to those and many other questions about leveraging this digital gold rush can be found below. Click the banner to subscribe for a free 7 part video series from two mega successful Internet entrepreneurs and mentors.
